Tennis|A First U.S. Title for Garbiñe Muguruza; Grigor Dimitrov Also Breaks Ground

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A First U.S. Title for Garbiñe Muguruza; Grigor Dimitrov Also Breaks Ground

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Spain’s Garbiñe Muguruza during her 6-1, 6-0 victory over Simona Halep of Romania in the women’s final at the Western & Southern Open on Sunday.CreditCreditTannen Maury/European Pressphoto Agency

By The Associated Press

Aug. 20, 2017

MASON, Ohio — Garbiñe Muguruza cradled her face in both hands on Sunday and closed her eyes, taking it all in. Muguruza, who won the women’s crown at Wimbledon last month, had added another title to her breakthrough summer — this one at the expense of Simona Halep, a player who cannot quite get to No. 1.

Muguruza defeated Halep, 6-1, 6-0, for her first Western & Southern Open title, needing only 56 minutes to extend her run of success. She also denied Halep another chance to move up to No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

“Honestly, I was thinking, in her situation, it must be difficult,” Muguruza said. “But I wanted to win the title as well.”

In the men’s tournament, seventh-seeded Grigor Dimitrov beat Nick Kyrgios, 6-3, 7-5, for his first ATP Masters title, emerging from a bracket decimated by injuries to top players.

Muguruza won her first title in the United States and her second of the year, along with Wimbledon. In three tournaments since Wimbledon, Muguruza, a Spaniard, has advanced to at least the quarterfinals. Now she will head to New York for the United States Open, where she has a history of disappointment.

“The tough matches never go my way, so I want to change that,” she said. “I want to find the recipe this year.”

It was a big disappointment for Halep — the third time this season that she needed one more win to move up to No. 1 and could not get it. Halep, a Romanian, fell just short at the French Open and Wimbledon, and she had been thinking about it for the past few weeks.

Perhaps that had something to do with her poor showing at the Western & Southern Open.

“Maybe I feel the pressure and I don’t realize it,” Halep said. “Maybe I just played bad. I don’t know what to say. But it’s still there. I still have a chance, so I will work for it, and maybe one day, it will be there.”

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Muguruza after defeating Halep, who fell a win short of the No. 1 ranking for a third time this season.CreditJohn Minchillo/Associated Press

Halep also finished as the runner-up at the Western & Southern Open in 2015, losing to Serena Williams. She brought a lot of momentum into Sunday’s title match. Halep is fully healed from a knee injury that limited her early in the season, and she did not lose a set all week until the final, when she was never in the match.

Muguruza broke her to go up, 2-0, in the first set and was in control. Halep won only 12 points in the set, which lasted 23 minutes. Muguruza broke her again to open the second set and faced only two break points during the entire match.

“When I feel on court that I got dominated a little bit — I felt that I cannot control the points — and that’s maybe why I got a little bit down in my confidence,” Halep said.

When it ended, Muguruza congratulated Halep and walked around the court, smiling. Then she put her hands over her heart and reached toward the applauding crowd.

The men’s bracket was without Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and the defending champion, Marin Cilic, because of injuries. Dimitrov, a Bulgarian, took advantage and won the title with his steady serve. He was broken only once all week.

Kyrgios, an Australian, had only two break chances and failed to convert either during the final, which lasted 1 hour 25 minutes. Neither player had reached a Masters title match until this week.

Dimitrov said his shoulder had felt heavy as he sensed the moment and served out the match.

“In moments like that, it’s so difficult,” Dimitrov said. “There’s so many things going through your head. Today, there was a lot more on the line for me, so yeah, the weight was a bit more.”

Kyrgios was delighted to reach a final after a hip injury had prompted him to retire from several matches this summer, including Wimbledon.

“Where I was three weeks ago, it wasn’t good at all, and now I’m in a Masters final,” Kyrgios said. “That’s a very Nick Kyrgios thing to do. I don’t know. It’s crazy.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D3 of the New York edition with the headline: First U.S. Title for Muguruza; Dimitrov Also Breaks Ground. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe